The present invention relates generally to motor vehicle wheels and in particularly to an improved motor wheel vehicle wheel center apparatus for attachment to the vehicle at the axle hub by the axle lug bolts of the vehicle and which includes anti-theft features associated therewith.
Various devices currently exist that attempt to combine an aesthetically pleasing appearance with theft deterrence or prevention means, in connection with automotive vehicle wheels. For example, found on some French passenger cars is a wheel having a spoke disk or plate stamped out of sheet steel and affixed at its center by a tapped hole receiving the head of a fastening part designed as a screw made hexagonally on its outside and sized to match the dimensions of the axle bolt fastening nuts used to attach the wheel to the axle. Through such a conventional design, the screw part on the French device could be opened at any time by means of a standard wrench and the hub cap thereby easily removed to expose access to the vehicle lug nuts. Such lug-covering hub caps have accordingly failed to sufficiently protect against theft.
Also, in this well known design, only the outer edge of the hub cap was pressed against the spoke disk. Therefore if oil or greased leaked at the grease cap of the wheel axle, (which cannot be avoided entirely,) through rotation of the wheel, such substances would eventually be thrown against first the fastening nuts and eventually through the edge gap between the hub cap and the spoke disk and onto the exterior thereof. Since this contact zone between spoke disk and hub cap was located relatively far away from the center of the axle, it could never be made completely tight, so that the traces of oil leaking outwardly together with dirt carried thereby, would frequently cause a dripping action which would be very hard to remove.
In addition, the penetration of dirty water and the like from the outside of the wheel towards the inside grease cap could not be prevented either, so that the effect would be a virtual circulation system in which a mixture of dirt, water and oil would be thrown from the axle or hub zone radially outward and later replenished.
Many well-known spoke disk wheel designs are additionally very limited with respect to optically attractive designs. Therefore, one increasingly goes to casting spoke disks of lighter metals such as aluminum alloy.
Other wheel designs such as the "Remotec" wheel, have included a hub cap that entirely covers the lug nuts of the wheel that made as a continuous one-piece part which is clipped to the spoke disk by means of a conventional lock connection. However, such a lock-type connection design results in the locks being exposed to, among other things, the elements and affects the visual appearance of the wheel by interrupting the continuous transition from wheel design to cover plate design.
Also in existence are wheel designs such as ones by Remotec, incorporating supposed anti-theft features consisting of a center locking cap which can be opened only with a special key, while allowing the axle lug bolts of the wheel to be only partially exposed therethrough, so as to prevent sufficient access to a conventional wrench or other similar tool to remove the bolts without first unlocking the protective center cap. However, such designs likewise not only adversely affect the visual appearance of the exterior of the wheel, but do not fully protect the aforementioned lug bolts from tampering or other damage and do not seal portions of the wheel from oil and dirt imigration.
Automotive wheel devices also exist such as Lyon, U.S. Pat. No. 2,911,260 which prevents removal of the wheel cover and corresponding access to the lug bolts without the use of a key to unlock the conventional lock mechanism. In Lyon, the locks keep the "knock off" or "spinner" decorative center of the wheel locked to a bracket affixed to the wheel by the lug nuts, near the grease cap of the axle. Similarly, Hudson U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,461 employs a lock mechanism built into a wheel cover which engages a mechanism attached to the wheel, surrounding the grease cap of the axle, so as to block access to the lug bolts unless the key unlocks the plug lock to allow removal of the cover. However, the aforementioned designs provide neither an aesthetically pleasing continuous transition in design appearance between the caps and the wheel, nor a very secure means of affixation.
Lamme, U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,733 employs a wheel cover that is affixed to the wheel by employing a "spinner" which is threadedly received by a bracket surrounding the grease cap of the axle and secured by the lug nuts. The "spinner" is then positively locked by turning of a key, which when inserted in a conventional cylindrical lock, causes a protrusion to be received by a slot in the bracket. The necessary exposure of the conventional lock mechanism of the '733 device could cause not only the previously described aesthetic and security problems encountered with standard lock and key mechanisms, but also, potentially the operational difficulties often encountered when such mechanisms are exposed to the environment.
Scruggs, U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,606 addresses the common problem in a multi-part wheel cover assembly, of preventing undesired rotation of the locking device relative to the wheel cover by providing a pin extending from the cap member through the wheel cover to prevent rotative removal of the wheel cover from the wheel. A conventional lock is also provided to protect the wheel cover and the wheel itself from being easily removed from the vehicle. Similarly, Goeske U.S. Pat. No. 2,282,222 employs a series of corresponding pegs and holes as well as conventional locking mechanisms to maintain its hub cap securely held against theft, under "lock and key." But the same problems could potentially exist with respect to the Goeske device as the previously discussed conventionally locking prior devices.
Reppert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,621, employs a two-piece hub cap construction joined by means of a screw thread connection and using a "ratchet" locking system which is releasable by reaching behind the hub cap and either pulling or pushing on the lever to release the ratchet lock and allow unscrewing of the outer cup, thereby exposing the lug nuts of the wheel. Such a construction could present difficulty, if removal of the hub cap is desired, while not providing a sufficient impediment to unauthorized removal thereof.
Clearly, there is therefore a need for an improved motor vehicle wheel center apparatus which promotes a completely integrated continuous appearance between "outer" wheel and "inner" cover plate while providing an anti-theft feature in an overall construction which precludes undesirable migration of oil and dirt.
Consequently the present invention has as an object the accomplishing of the dual purposes of providing for an especially attractive aesthetic design for a motor vehicle wheel, and preventing theft thereof by impeding or preventing undesired access to the axle lug bolts thereof.
In addition, the present invention has as an object, the secure affixation of the hub cap member, and specifically, the cover plate and shaft member, to the spoke disk and prevention of easy removal by unauthorized persons.
If is a further object of the present invention to provide a spoke disk member and a hub cap member which are designed to attach in a visually attractive continuous design manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for secure fastening of the hub cap member to the spoke disk member to prevent undesired relative movement thereof and corresponding alteration of the visual design of the wheel center when in the assembled relation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide for especially effective sealing between the hub cap member and the spoke disk, to prevent undesired migration of materials either into or from the center of the axle to the exterior of the wheel or the lug nuts.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for increased friction-tightness between the hub cap member and the spoke disk member including utilization of the wedge principal to increase the reliability of the connection.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide for a collecting space in the spoke disk member for dirt which might otherwise penetrate to or from the outside of the wheel.
Another object of the present invention is to prevent contact corrosion between the component parts of the apparatus while still maintaining an economically feasible mode of production.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide for a hub cap member which can be, on the one hand mounted and demounted by means of a special wrench or tool, and on the other hand be of such a configuration that commonly available tools or keys do not facilitate such unauthorized removal.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for consistent alignment of the spoke disk member and cover disks in a predetermined rotary position relative to each other, so that the pattern present in the spoke disk member can be continuously displayed on the outside of the cover plate.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for a means of secure attachment of a cover plate which avoids the problems encountered with conventional locking mechanisms which are exposed to the environment including the potential problems of rusting, freezing, or the existence of "universal" keys.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a more simplified wheel center construction incorporating the advantages of production from light metals as well as metal to plastic interfacing and integration.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification and drawings.